Florida Senate Panel Approves Annual ‘Charlie Kirk Day’

A Senate committee Tuesday approved creating an annual “day of remembrance” in Florida for slain conservative activist and influencer Charlie Kirk.

The Republican-controlled Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee voted 5-2 along party lines to approve the bill (SB 194), which would designate Oct. 14, Kirk’s birthday, as “Charlie Kirk Day of Remembrance.” It also would authorize the governor to issue a proclamation on the day.

Democrats brought up a number of Kirk’s comments about guns, race and women, but bill sponsor Jonathan Martin, R-Fort Myers, said the comments were taken out of context. “You can make anybody, like you’re trying to do with Charlie, sound like they’re a bad person,” Martin said. “He’s not a bad person. And for everybody who has seen that full interview where he talks about guns, everybody understands that’s a rational conversation. Those are rational thoughts, and even if you disagreed with it, the man lost his life because he said, ‘come debate me.’”

Kirk, a co-founder and executive director of the national conservative group Turning Point USA, was murdered in September during an appearance at Utah Valley University.

Sen. LaVon Bracy Davis, D-Ocoee, argued that elevating Kirk raises questions and concerns about values that Florida honors. “He is known historically and nationally for minimizing racism and denying systemic discrimination, attacking communities of color and LGBTQ-plus youth, spreading misinformation about elections and public health and using rhetoric that divides Floridians rather than unites us,” Bracy Davis said.

Bracy Davis and Sen. Tina Polsky, D-Boca Raton, raised Kirk’s April 23, 2023, statement on guns during a Turning Point USA Faith event, where he said, “I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our God-given rights.” Polsky told Martin, “He’s still responsible for his own statements, no matter how you try to justify it.”

John Labriola of the Christian Family Coalition told the committee it is “unfortunate that the far left has taken quotes out of context and tried to defame Charlie Kirk at a time when that kind of hatred actually fueled his assassination in the first place.” Martin’s bill would need approval from the Senate Education Postsecondary and Fiscal Policy committees before it could go to the full Senate during the legislative session that will start Jan. 13. A House version (HB 125) has not been heard in advance of the session.

–News Service of Florida